After all&comma; we’ve gotten used to hearing about how we’re destroying multiple industries&comma; relying too much on technology and being largely impractical&period; Luckily&comma; most of these myths are easy to shrug off&comma; as just another case of the older generations misunderstanding and mistrusting the younger ones&period;

But where the stigma can be damaging is where it affects our work&period; Things can get dangerous here because&comma; as the largest generation in the U&period;S&period; workforce&comma; we millennials sure have a lot of wrongful assumptions being made about us as employees&period; So&comma; if you're an employer who wants to avoid falling into these assumptions and limiting the potential of the millennials in your workforce&comma; read on to understand what is fact and what's fiction&period;

Here are nine wrongful assumptions commonly made about millennial employees&comma; and the truth about each&period;

1&period; Millennials are all the same&period;

Although it’s pretty easy to identify common values and behaviors among millennials&comma; we can’t forget that there are tens of millions of us in this generation -- and we aren’t all the same&period; In fact&comma; 79 percent of top marketers identify millennial sub-segments that are dramatically different from one other&comma; ranging from “beer transitionals” to “new homeowners&period;”

This means that you need to treat millennials as individuals in the workforce&comma; and not assume that what works for one person will work for all of them&period;

2&period; Millennials want participation trophies&period;

Although we might have gotten these on our childhood sports teams&comma; the truth is that millennials have grown up and understand adult expectations for success&period; In a recent survey&comma; millennials prized ethics and transparency in their managers more than getting recognized for their accomplishments&period; In fact&comma; Gen X employees are more likely than millennials to think that everyone on a successful team should be rewarded&period;

3&period; Millennials perform well only in digital spaces&period;

Despite the fact that 98 percent of millennials aged 18 to 24 own smartphones and they are called “digital natives&comma;” this generation’s potential isn’t limited to the digital realm&period; When it comes to learning new skills at work&comma; millennials on average prioritize face-to-face contact over digital options&period; Furthermore&comma; they are significantly less likely than baby boomers to prefer virtual meetings for collaboration&period;

4&period; They aren’t loyal&period;

Another common misconception is that millennials aren’t loyal to the companies that hire them&comma; and that they jump around from job to job&period; In truth&comma; millennials stay with their employers longer than Gen X employees did at the same ages&comma; largely due to the fact that the labor market is less fluid than it once was&period; This means that as long as you’re treating your millennial employees well&comma; they’re not any less likely to stick around than older employees&period;

5&period; They’re lazy&period;

A common wrongful assumption made about millennial workers is that they want raises and promotions before they’ve earned them&comma; and that they’re unwilling to do the work necessary to succeed&period; However&comma; the data suggests otherwise&colon; 87 percent of millennials surveyed have said that opportunities to learn and grow are extremely important to them when they're applying for a job -- which suggests that they are hungry to put in the work&period;

6&period; They’re complacent&period;

There is much talk about the complacency of the average millennial&period; However&comma; this is unlikely to be reality&comma; given the economic situation many millennials find themselves in&colon; They have higher levels of student loan debt and poverty&comma; as well as lower levels of wealth and income&comma; than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers had at the same age&period; This means that millennials are hungry to work to dig themselves out of economic insecurity&period;

And if that isn’t convincing&comma; consider that 59 percent of millennial workers in a recent poll said that competition is what “gets them up in the morning&comma;” compared to agreement with that statement by 50 percent of baby boomers polled&period;

7&period; They don’t follow directions&period;

As much as other generations may think that millennials don’t like to follow instructions&comma; the reality is that 41 percent of millennials surveyed agreed that “employees should do what their manager tells them&comma; even when they can’t see the reason for it&comma;” compared with 30 percent of baby boomers and 30 percent of Gen Xers surveyed who agreed with that view&period;

8&period; They care only about themselves&period;

Despite what I'd call a myth that says millennials are selfish&comma; the truth is that as a group we are extremely socially conscious and care deeply about the world&period; This is why 61 percent of millennials in one survey said they were worried about the state of the world and felt personally responsible to make a difference&period;

9&period; They rely too much on collaboration&period;

Another wrongful assumption made about millennial employees is that they rely too heavily on others in the workplace&period; However&comma; although they do largely embrace teamwork&comma; 78 percent of us in one survey said that we would be more productive at work if twe had more private space for individual work and reflection&period;

Overall&comma; t’s certainly true that certain stereotypes can have their roots in truth&period; However&comma; in the case of millennial workers&comma; there seem to be more myths out there than fact&period; And that's not good&comma; because it’s imperative that businesses understand the truth about millennial employees in order to build the best workplace teams&period;

What are some other myths you can think of about your own generation&quest;

Join us for a day of inspiration&comma; networking and keynotes from Sarah Michelle Gellar&comma; Jon Taffer and more&excl;